Celine Dion to end Strip residency in June
CDion, who ignited the era of the large theater residency in Las Vegas, has announced she will close her show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on June 8.
“I definitely have mixed emotions about this final run,” Dion said Monday morning in a statement. “Las Vegas has become my home, and performing at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace has been a big part of my life for the past two decades.
“It’s been an amazing experience and I’m so grateful to all the fans who have come to see us throughout the years. Every show we do at the Colosseum throughout this fall and right up until the final one will feel very special.”
Dion, for whom the 4,298seat Colosseum was built, will perform 28 additional show dates Feb. 26-March 16 and May 14-June. 8. Tickets for those shows go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. Her current schedule, Oct. 30-Jan. 20, remains unchanged, and tickets are on sale.
Dion has performed
1,089 shows for 4.5 million fans since opening her first residency, “A New Day,” at Caesars in March 2003. That series, which led to the hotel closing and taking apart the famed Circus Maximus showroom, ran through December 2007. Dion’s current production, put on by Concerts WEST/AEG Presents, opened March 15, 2011.
“What an extraordinary part of our lives these shows have been,” John Meglen, CO-CEO of Concerts West/ AEG Presents, said Monday. “Celine took such a leap of faith, made such a big bet on Las Vegas when she decided to perform “A New Day” all those years ago. And look what she’s done. … She has changed the landscape of entertainment in Las Vegas. What she started as a crazy idea that didn’t make sense to a lot of people has now become the norm.
“Now everyone wants to perform a residency in Las Vegas!”
Caesars Entertainment President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Frissora said, “Celine is ingrained within the legacy of Caesars Palace, and it has been a tremendous honor to be a permanent home to one of the most legendary music icons for over 15 years.”
Dion recently overcame a condition in her middle ear known as patulous eustachian tube, which causes hearing irregularities and makes singing difficult. She canceled performances from March 27 to April 18 to undergo minor surgery to address the problem and returned to the stage May 22.
Celine’s impact
Dion’s critical and box office success helped initiate the superstar residency production shows that dominate the Las Vegas entertainment scene today. A few that followed her model, in no particular order:
Elton John: Sir Elton often referred to the Colosseum as “the house that Celine built.” He performed 450 shows in 14 years during his “Red Piano” and “Million Dollar Piano” productions, which ended in May.
Cher: Though she was not a big fan of playing the Colosseum (she found it a bit too stodgy for her freewheeling stage show), Cher did play Caesars for 2½ years, ending in February 2011. She has remained a headlining force at the Park Theater.
Britney Spears: Spears’ team reviewed Dion’s shows at the Colosseum and was convinced that Britney could make a similar run at the then-axis theater. Spears’ arrival forged a renovation of that room, bringing it closer to the Colosseum’s 4,298 capacity (down from 7,000), and Spears had a successful run from December 2013 to last New Year’s Eve.
Rod Stewart: Stewart opened what was originally a two-year residency at the Colosseum in August 2011 and remains a theater stalwart.
Shania Twain: Her uniquely produced “Still the One” show, which featured a horse onstage, opened Dec. 1, 2012, and ended Dec. 13, 2014, at the Colosseum. AEG Live officials tapped into her Canadian fan base by using the database built from Dion’s French-canadian loyalists.
Gwen Stefani: The Zappos Theater headliner gained fame with No Doubt in the mid-1990s and performed songs from multiple decades up through her current solo career.
Mariah Carey: The songstress, who has logged 17 No. 1 hits, has headlined twice at the Colosseum, with “No. 1 to Infinity” from 2015 to 2017 and her current “The Butterfly Returns,” set to resume in February.
Bruno Mars: If you consider that the Park Theater was designed to tap into the success of Dion’s long run on the Strip, Mars, who clearly relishes the more intimate confines of that venue, has to be in the conversation.
Lady Gaga: See above. By the time Gaga headlined T-mobile Arena in August 2017, the resident headlining trend had created a glut of stars on the Strip. Before her show, Gaga tweeted to Cher and Spears: “I WOULD COME TO YOUR SHOWS
BUT I’M PLAYING ACROSS THE STREET @ sametime WHY IS THIS HAPPENING @ cher @britneyspears #Vegas #Joanneworldtour.”
Celine was off that night, but somewhere you had to believe she was smiling.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @ Johnnykats1 on Instagram. As of 9 p.m. Monday:
1. Celine Dion ending
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